Congress cautions govt. as Pak dedicates its I-Day to 'freedom of Kashmir'

New Delhi, Aug. 14 (ANI): Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar on Sunday advised the BJP leadership in New Delhi to reach out to the people of Kashmir and stop the use of pellet guns in the valley while accusing Pakistan of attempting to take advantage of the state of affairs in the region. Aiyar told ANI that India must initiate steps to tackle the situation in Kashmir instead of imposing blame on the hostile neighbour. "Let them (Pakistan) say what they want to. Can they snatch Kashmir? Can we snatch Balochistan? No. Whenever there is chaos in Kashmir, Pakistan wants to take its undue advantage. Here we are happy that there is some revolution going on in Gilgit.does that mean Gilgit will be independent? Should we interfere in that?" he said. He said India has to project a picture in front of the people of Kashmir that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is against the use of pellets and bullets. "It's better if we move forward to that direction based on which a meeting was called and some agreements were made. If the BJP does everything according to its wish and Modi ji thinks his 'Mann Ki Baat' is right.then nothing will take place other than more chaos," he added. The Congress leader's remark came after Pakistani envoy Abdul Basit earlier in the day said Islamabad has dedicated the 70th Independence Day to the freedom of Kashmir. Commenting on the protests in Balochistan, Aiyar stated that there has been chaos in the region since 1947 as the people there have never spoken in unison against Pakistan. "They have never ever posed a threat in front of the Pakistan Government so that Pakistan thinks of accepting their demands and doing something for the region. The name Balochistan has been given to such a region where there are Pathans who speak Pashto, Baloch is spoken in Qadat.they have had different leaders and they have been fighting amongst themselves. By exploiting this, Pakistan sometimes made Akbar Bugti the Governor and put Ataullah Mengal behind the bars and vice-versa," he added. Asserting that there has been no coordination among the Baloch leaders, the Congress leader said it was difficult for them to challenge Pakistan. "It is a misconception in India that Baloch has united. We become so happy by hearing that there is chaos going on in Balochistan and we desire Pakistan's destruction. If we look at Balochistan's history of 70 years, I don't think there will ever be such a situation when there will be a revolution that they become independent by removing the Pakistan Government," he added. (ANI)